A GROUP of young musicians have moved one step closer to their dream of following in McFly’s footsteps.

Charlie Hudson and his four bandmates are through to the final of the Grand Talent Trail competition.

They stand to win £3,000, new equipment and sixth months worth of paid rehearsal time.

The band is called Kickstart and features bassist Charlie, 14, Oscar Jones, Andy Huxtable, Josh Lloyd and Graham Roberts, all 12, who are mad about pop-rock acts such as McFly and Busted.

They hope to make their heroes proud by doing well in the upcoming competition, which will be held at Liverpool’s St George’s Hall on March 26, in association with the Help for Heroes charity

Charlie, from Acton, Wrexham, is delighted that the band, which formed just over six months ago, is gaining in confidence and ability and is excited to see what the future might hold.

He said: “We’re made up to have got through to the final because we were up against hundreds of other acts who were really, really good.

“There were even some dancers who are also taking part in the Got to Dance competition.

“We’re a bit nervous about the final as well though because there’s going to be about 500 people in the audience watching us perform.”

Kickstart have dreamed of performing on stage like their idols for a long time, but as solo musicians they never had the chance.

But that all changed when they met at the Band for a Day project, part of the Llangollen Fringe Festival last summer.

Charlie was over the moon to be teamed up with four kindred spirits and the gang spent the day together practising a song to perform on stage to an audience of friends, families and fans.

He said: “We had a brilliant time. Me and the others were randomly put together in a sort of lucky dip, but we all got on really well and had the same taste in music.

“And we were given a song to rehearse together with a professional musician who helped us improve our technique and stage performance.

“And then in the evening we actually got to perform our song, McFly’s Five Colours in her Hair, in front of a real audience.”

Now the group, who meet up to practise every Monday, are keen to push themselves further and see where the Grand Talent Trail might take them.

- McFly are to headline this year’s Llangollen Eisteddfod. The band will play the festival’s Sunday night concert on July 10.